Stepping device



Dec. 14, 1965 F. FETzr-:R 3,222,935v

STEPPING DEVICE Filed Oct. 4, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Five?? Tf F. FE1-2ERSTEPPING DEVICE Dec.` 14, 196s 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 4, 1962 Dec.14, 1965 F. FETZER 3,222,935

STEPPING DEVICE Filed Oct. 4, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 a Z6 @a Z1/" .Z.

60 4,5 J4 f y United States Patent O 3,222,935 STEPPING DEVICE FrederickFetzer, Strongsvilie, Ohio, assigner to Hollymatic Corporation,atcorporation of `Illinois Filed Oct. 4, 1962, Ser. No. .228,473 3Claims. (Cl. 743.52)

This invention relates to a stepping device for moving a movablereaction member by an operating member after a selectively predeterminedamount of movement of the operating member.

Such stepping devices are used for many purposes and customarily employan apparatus that is movable through successive increments in a cyclewith means at the completion of the cycle for moving a reaction member.The operating member is then returned to its initial condition to starta subsequent cycle.

One of the features of this invention therefore is to provide animproved stepping device formoving a movable reaction member only aftera selectively predetermined amount of movement of the operating memberwith this cyclical amount of movement being repeated after each movementof the reaction member.

Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing description of one embodiment thereof taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings. Of the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary side elevational view of a portion of a meatpatty molding apparatus employing one embodiment of the stepping deviceof this invention.

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary plan View of the machine of FIGURE 1 with thetop cover of the stepping device removed for clarity of illustration.

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary side elevational view taken from theright-hand side of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 4 is a plan view of the stepping device of this invention withthe `top cover removed.

FIGURE 5 is a vertical sectional View taken substantially along line 5 5of FIGURE 4.

FIGURE 6 is a vertical sectional View taken substantially along line 6-6of FIGURE 4.

FIGURE 7 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially along line 7-1of FIGURE 5.

FIGURE 8 is a View similar to FIGURE 7 but showing the rotatable memberin a different position.

In the drawings there is illustrated a patty molding and separator sheetapplying apparatus of the type disclosed and claimed in the Richards andHolly copending application Serial No. 116,141, filed .Tune 9, 1961, nowU.S. Patent 3,126,683 and assigned to a common assignee. This apparatus,as is explained in the copending application, is for molding a patty ofa plastic material such as meat, sh and other edible plastic productsand for applying a separator sheet thereto. The molding portion of theapparatus is disclosed and claimed in H. H. Holly copending applicationSerial No. 803,212, nowPatent 3,061,872, dated November 6, 1962, andalso assigned -to a common assignee. The illustrated patty moldingapparatus is only one example of an apparatus to which this inventioncan be adapted.

Before describing the stepping device of this invention, the pattymolding and separator sheet applying portions of the apparatus will bebriey described. This apparatus comprises a cabinet 10 on which islocated an endless belt 11, one end of which passes over an adjustablepulley 12. This belt 11 is driven by electrically operated means (notshown) in the customary manner andis located so as to receive pattiesfalling from a rotatable mold plate 13 containing four equally spacedmold openings 14 of patty shape adapted to be lled with the moldablematerial such 3,222,935 Patented Dec. 14, 1965 ICC as ground meat underpressure by .feeding means not shown here but shown in theabove-mentioned patent.

The pattyis removed from each mold opening 14 after the plate has beenrotated to move the opening and the contained patty beneath a verticallymovable knock-out ring 15. This knock-out ring is mounted on `the outerend of an overhanging arm 16 which is vertically movable with a verticalpost 17 to which the end of the arm opposite the ring 15 is attached.This post 17 slides within a vertical cylinder 18.

As the patty (not shown) falls from the mold plate 13 it picks up aseparator sheet of paper that is retained within a paper holder frame71. This separator sheet is taken from the bottom of a stack of sheets(not shown) held in a magazine A19. The paper feed portion of themechanism is driven from a vertical shaft that rotates within a verticalhousing 20. The details of this paper feed, the vertical shaft and thegearing required are disclosed in the second above-mentioned copendingapplication.

The vertical shaft 21 within the housing 20 operates through gearing torotate continuously a sprocket 22. This sprocket 22 rotates by means ofa chain 23 and a second sprocket 24 which is mounted on the outer end ofa rotatable member or shaft 25 of the stepping device 26.

The stepping device has a metal casing 27 with opposite sides 28 and afront 36. The shaft 25 extends between these opposite sides 28 with theouter end 29 of the shaft beyond its adjacent side 28 having fastenedthereto the sprocket 24.

Mounted on the shaft 25 for rotation therewith is a collar 30 within thecasing 27 having an outwardly projecting spur 31. Surrounding the shaft25 at the area where it passes through the side wall 28 is a bearing 32in which the shaft 25 is rotatable and also slidable longitudinallyrelative thereto. Between the collar 30 and the bearing 32 is acompression spring 33 surrounding this portion of the shaft and urgingthe shaft 25 to the right as viewed in FIGURE 4.

The end of the shaft 25 opposite the spring 33 carries a lever 34extending from a collar 35 attached to this end of the shaft 25.

Extending through the front wall 36 of the casing 27 is a shaft 37 onthe outer end of which outside the front 36 is mounted a control knob38. The inner end of this shaft 37 within the casing 27 carries a stopmember 39, here exemplified by a sprocket 40 provided with a hub 41.This hub 41 carries on its inner surface an inwardly extending stop 42in the form of a pin having a rearwardly and downwardly slopedstopsurface as viewed in FIGURE 4. The shaft 37 and stop member 39 canbe rotated by means of the knob 38 through slightly'less than 360. Theextent of rotation is governed by a projection 43 on the outer surfaceof the sprocket 40 engaging a second 'projection 44 on the inner surfaceof the front wall 36 of the casing.

As can he seen, the two projections 43 and 44 engage eachother to delineeach end of the arc of rotation of the stop member 39.

Attached to the bottom 45 of the casing 27 is a bracket 46 having anupwardly extending flange 47 parallel to and spaced inwardly of theinner surface 48 of the hub `41. Mounted on this flange 47 and extendingtoward lthe surface 48 is a stub shaft 49 which is axially aligned withthe knob shaft 37. Rotatable on this stub shaft 49 is an operatingmember 50, here exemplified by a collar 51 having one end adjacent theflange 47 and on `which is mounted a sprocket 52. The sprocket 52 is thesame size asthe sprocket 40 and has the same number of teeth.

Extending outwardly from the surface of the collar 51 that is oppositethe sprocket 52 is a stop engaging pin 53. This stop engaging pin has anouter end sloped similarly but opposite to the outer end of the pin 42so that when the pins are in engagement with each other, as shown inFIGURE 4, the stop pin 42 prevents further movement of the operatingmember 50 in a clockwise direction as viewed from the front of FIGURE 4.

In order to retain the stop member sprocket in the position to which ithas been turned by the knob 38, there is provided a housing 54 for aspring 55 which urges a ball 56 into engagement with the successivespaces between each pair of adjacent teeth of the sprocket 40.

The operating member is adapted to move a reaction member 57 after aselectively predetermined amount of movement of the operating member 50.In the illustrated embodiment the reaction member 57 is in the form of ahinged plate having a lower end hingedly mounted on a transverse shaft58 at the bottom of the casing 27 and the upper end positioned betweenthe hub 41 and collar 51 on one side and a slidably mounted plunger 59on the other side. This plunger is mounted for movement in an opening onone side of the casing 27 and when moved to the right, as shown inFIGURES 4-6, is adapted to close a switch 60. The plate 57 is moved tothis switch closing position either by engagement of the plate S7 with apin 61 extending radially from the hub 41 or pin 62 extending radiallyfrom the collar 51 of the operating member 50. The hinged plate 57 isconstantly urged toward the hub 41 and collar 51 by means of a helicalspring 63 around the shaft 58 having one end bearing against the casing27 and the other end bearing against the hinged plate 57. The urging ofthe plate 57 to the left, as viewed in FIGURES 4-6, causes the end ofthe pin 62 to be held in a recess 64 in the plate 57 until the plate ismoved to the right against the urging of the spring 63.

This movement of the hinged plate or reaction member 57 further to theright from the position shown in FIGURES 4-6 is brought about by meansof the lever 34. This lever which projects from the collar 35 isprovided with an inner sloped surface that is sloped from a relativelysharp leading edge 66. Rotation of the lever 34 causes this slopedleading edge 66 to engage a similar but oppositely sloped edge 67 on thehinged plate 57 and move the plate further to the right, as shown inFIGURES 4 and 6. Furthermore, this engagement of the edges causes theplate 57 to be retained in this locked position for a short time.

The collar 51 is hollow and contains a coil spring 68 having the innerend attached to the shaft 49 and the outer end attached to a pin 69 onthe collar 51. This spring 68 always urges the operating member 50 in aclockwise direction as viewed from the front of FIG- URE 4.

The operation of the device is as follows: When the stop member 39 isturned to the position shown in the drawings by the knob 38, the pin 61is in contact with the hinged plate reaction member 57 to hold theswitch 60 closed. Because the spring 68. holds the operating member pin53 of the operating member 50 against the stop pin 42, the pin 62 isalso in contact with the plate 57. The closing of the switch 60 causesthe belt 11 to move continuously so that patties are deposited thereonin series or, in other words, in stacks of one. Thus the device now isoperating solely to hold switch 60 closed.

The number of rotations of rotatable member shaft 25 to cause switchclosing movement of the reaction member plate 57 is controlled andpreset by the knob 38. Thus, when the parts are in the positions shownin FIGURES 4-6, stop member 39 has been turned until pin 61 thereonengages plate 57 as shown and holds it to the right. This pressesplunger 59 to the right to close switch 60. This causes the conveyor 11to run continuously so that the patties deposited thereon are in stacksof one each. Pin 61 is long so that it holds plate 57 far enough to theright to permit the sharp edges 65 of lever 34 to pass in front of thesharp edge 67 of reaction member 57 (FIG. 8) during the continuousrotation of shaft 25.

If stacks of more than one are desired the knob 38 is turned to theright, as viewed from the front of FIG- URE 4, to position the stop pin42 of stop member 39 a desired clockwise distance from operating memberpin 53. This position can be predetermined by counting the number ofclicks as the teeth of sprocket 40 of stop member 39 pass over thespring pressed ball 56. Because sprockets 40 and 52 are identical, thetotal number of clicks will be the number of patties that will bearranged in each stack.

This rotation presetting of the stop member 39 by turning the knob 38clockwise aslo moves operating member 50 as spring 68 causes member 50to follow member 39 with stops 42 and 53 in contact. It also moves pin61 away from reaction member plate 57 and permits spring 63 to forceplate 57 to the left in contact with sprocket 52. This puts plate 57 tothe left of the path of rotation of lever 34. On rotation of thecontinuously rotating shaft 25 the lever 34 on this shaft passes behindreaction member plate 57. (As can be seen, the only function of pin 61is to close switch 60 when continuous operation of conveyor 11 isdesired, that is, when the device is not operating as a steppingdevice.)

The continuously rotating shaft 25 of the device, preset as describedfor producing stacks of patties, causes spur 31 to engage each tooth ofsprocket 52 of the operating member 58 in succession. This moves theoperating member 50 one increment (equivalent to the distance betweenadjacent teeth) of the total distance the pin 62 must be moved to engagethe plate 5'7. These total increments move the operating member 50 in acounterclockwise direction as viewed from the front of FIGURE 4 in stepseventually to engage the operating member pin 62 with the plate 57 andagain close the switch 60. As soon as this switch is closed the conveyor11 is moved to place the conveyor in position to receive the next stack.

Between increments of movement of the operating member 50 this member isheld stationary by engagement of the top of the edge portion 67 of plate57 beneath a tooth on the sprocket 52. This engagement is permittedbecause up to the time the pin 62 engages the lever 57 at the end of thestepwise movements there is nothing to prevent the spring 63 fromforcing the hinged plate 57 to the left against the sprocket 52. Becausethe plate section 67 is of less height than the remainder of the platethe top edge of this portion 67 easily passes under a tooth of thesprocket 56. When lever 57 is thus out of engagement with pin 62 andpressed forwardly by spring 63 to engage sprocket 52, the lever 34 whichis continuously rotated by shaft 25 passes behind or to the right ofplate 57, as viewed in FIGURES 4-6.

When the operating member 50 has thus been moved in increments until thepin 62 engages the hinged plate 57 to move it to the right and close theswitch 60 as described, this engagement of pin 62 and plate 57 ismaintained by reason of the pin being held in recess 64. However, on thenext complete rotation of shaft 25 the edge 65 of lever 34 engages edge67 of the plate 57 (FIGURE 8) and moves plate 57 further to the right,as viewed in FIGURES 4-6, to release the pin 62 from recess 64.Stretched spring 68 thereupon snaps operating member 50 in a clockwisedirection, as viewed in FIG- URE 6, to its initial position where itsstop 53 engages the stop 42 of stop member 39. The movement inincrements again takes place until switch 60 is once more closed toagain move the conveyor 11. During the time when the increments arebeing accumulated to a suicient number to close the switch, the conveyoris stationary because switch 60 is open and the shaped patties aredropped to form a stack on the stationary conveyor.

In order to change the number of patties in the successive stacks, it isonly necessary to turn the control knob 38 to change the position of thestop member 39 stop 42.

Having described my invention as related to the embodiment shown in theaccompanying drawings, it is my intention that the invention be notlimited by any of the details of description, unless otherwisespecified, but rather be construed broadly within its spirit and scopeas set out in the accompanying claims.

I claim:

1. A stepping device, comprising: a reaction member movable to a movedposition; an operating member engageable with said reaction member forsaid movement thereof; a stop member; means for moving said stop memberto a variable desired location from an ultimate initial position; meansfor urging said operating member into stopping engagement with said stopmember at said desired location; means for moving said operating memberin increments from said stopping engagement with said stop member atsaid desired location into engagement with said reaction member formovement thereof, the total of said increments of movement of saidoperating member determining the total movement of said operating memberrequired to engage and move said reaction member; means for retainingsaid engagement of the operating member with the reaction member; meansfor releasing said engagement, said means for urging thereby returningsaid operating member to said stopping engagement with said stop memberafter said moving of said reaction member, said desired location of saidstop member determining the number of said increments required to movesaid operating member into said engagement with said reaction member;and means on said stop member for retaining said reaction member in saidmoved position when said stop member is at said initial position.

2. A stepping device, comprising: a reaction member movable to a movedposition; an operating member engageable with said reaction member forsaid movement thereof; a stop member; means for moving said stop memberto a variable desired location; means for urging said operating memberinto stopping engagement with said stop member at said desired location;means for moving said operating member in increments from said stoppingengagement with said stop member at said desired location intoengagement with said reaction member for movement thereof, the total ofsaid increments 6 determining the total amount of movement of saidoperating member required to engage and move said reaction member, saidmoving means comprising a member rotatable through successive units ofrotation; means operatively connected to said rotatable member formoving said operating member one of said increments upon each unit ofrotation of said rotatable member until said engagement of the operatingmember With the reaction member; meansretaining said operating memberagainst movement between each successive pair of increments; and meansreleasing said retaining means subsequent to the last of said incrementsfor return by said urging means of the operating member to engagementwith said stop member.

3. A stepping device, comprising: a reaction member movab-le to a movedposition; an operating member engageable with said reaction member forsaid movement thereof; a stop member; means for moving said stop memberto a variable desired location; means for urging said operating memberinto stopping engagement with said stop member at said desired location;means for moving said operating member in increments from said stoppingengagement with said stop member at said desired location intoengagement With said reaction member for movement thereof, the total ofsaid increments determining the total amount of movement of saidoperating member required to engage and move said reaction member, saidmoving means comprising a member rotatable through successive units ofrotation; means operatively connected to said rotatable member formoving said operating member one of said increments upon each unit ofrotation of said rotatable member until said engagement of the operatingmember with the reaction member; means retaining said operating memberagainst movement between each successive pair of increments; secondmeans retaining said operating member against movement when inengagement with said reaction member; and means releasing both saidretaining means subsequent to the last of said increments for return bysaid urging means of the operating member to engagement with said stopmember.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,440,522 4/ 1948Ost 74-526 X 2,548,604 4/1951 Hickey 200--38 X 2,589,139 3/ 1952 Reynardet al 20G-38 2,688,912 9/1954 Laneri 74-3.54 X

BROUGHTON G. DURHAM, Primary Examiner.

1. A STEPPING DEVICE, COMPRISING: A REACTION MEMBER MOVABLE TO A MOVEDPOSITION; AN OPERATING MEMBER ENGEAGEABLE WITH SAID REACTION MEMBER FORSAID MOVEMENT THEREOF; A STOP MEMBER; MEANS FOR MOVING SAID STOP MEMBERTO A VARIABLE DESIRED LOCATION FROM AN ULTIMATE INITIAL POSITION; MEANSFOR URGING SAID OPERATING MEMBER INTO STOPPING ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID STOPMEMBER AT SAID DESIRED LOCATION; MEANS FOR MOVING SAID OPERATING MEMBERIN INCREMENTS FROM SAID STOPPING ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID STOP MEMBER ATSAID DESIRED LOCATION INTO ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID REACTION MEMBER FORMOVEMENT THEREOF, THE TOTAL OF SAID INCREMENTS OF MOVEMENT OF SAIDOPERATING MEMBER DETERMINING THE TOTAL MOVEMENT OF SAID OPERATING MEMBERREQUIRED TO ENGAGE AND MOVE SAID REACTION MEMBER; MEANS FOR RETAININGSAID ENGAGEMENT OF THE OPERATING MEMBER WITH THE REACTION MEMBER; MEANSFOR RELEASING SAID ENGAGEMENT, SAID MEANS FOR URGING THEREBY RETURNINGSAID OPERATING MEMBER TO SAID STOPPING ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID STOP MEMBERAFTER SAID MOVING OF SAID REACTION MEMBER, SAID DESIRED LOCATION OF SAIDSTOP MEMBER DETERMINING THE NUMBER OF SAID INCREMENTS REQUIRED TO MOVESAID OPERATING MEMBER INTO SAID ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID REACTION MEMBER;AND MEANS ON SAID STOP MEMBER FOR RETAINING SAID REACTION MEMBER IN SAIDMOVED POSITIONED WHEN SAID STOP MEMBER IS AT SAID INITIAL POSITION.